Autumn Knights

Hell Hound Evolution 56

I awoke with heavy eyes and a sore body, yet at the same time, I felt surprisingly refreshed, at least mentally. I let out a yawn and licked my chops, then looked down to my side to see Lilly curled up into a ball beside me and Grick using her as a pillow. The goblin was snoring obnoxiously with a big intake of breath followed by a long, almost-whistle. 

Standing up and stretching, I let out a long yawn that stirred Lily awake. She shifted her head just enough to look up at me thro...

Hell Hound Evolution 55

I stepped towards Grick and let out a yip. He turned his head, clearly not knowing what I wanted.

So how do I communicate this to him?

I walked over to the crystal vein and set my pawn down, then tilted my head back the way we had come.

“Puppy… tries to tell me something?”

I yipped my affirmation, then looked to the crystal and back again more intently.

“Puppy wants… to know…” He scratched his chin. “Where to go, poopy?”

My ears folded bac...

Hell Hound Evolution 54

Grick led us down along the riverside, the path sloping lower and lower. It was hard to gauge with no sunlight to go by, but I got the feeling this river just continued to head deeper and deeper underground. I had to wonder about these “bad things” Grick would occasionally mutter about whilst insisting he would show us a “good way.” Of course, what might qualify as a “bad thing” to the scrawny little goblin might not turn out to be such a big deal to me.

He eventually slowed...

Hell Hound Evolution 53

The creature’s low growl opened into a throaty snarl as it inched closer to the brook’s edge. Jessica let the mask slip from her hand as she held her spear up, backing away slowly. Iris’s stance lowered as her hackles raised, and she barked sharply at the creature.

“Iris,” Jessica said in a low voice. “Easy… D-Don’t make it mad.”

The pup didn’t listen. Her lips curled, and she gave another vicious bark. The beast tensed before its claws suddenly kicked back clu...

Hell Hound Evolution 52

Jessica clutched herself against the dragon as tightly as she could, with Iris sandwiched under her chest. The pup’s head was peeking out from under her, ears folded back, and she seemed to be just as terrified as they soared through the sky at incredible speed. Meanwhile, Valrok, her father in this life, stood easily on two feet as if the galing winds were no more than a soft breeze, his red cloak flapping heavily over his shoulder.

Then there was her aunt, sitting cross-legged with ...

Hell Hound Evolution 51

Foe Eliminated - Lvl 17 Homo Sapien - Blood Peak Tribe

Experience Gained!

You have leveled up!

You are now level 13!

+5 Vigor

+5 Strength

+5 Dexterity

+9 Attunement

+7 Sense

I exhaled heavily. I may have defeated the humans and gotten another quick level out of the deal, but ...

Hell Hound Evolution 50

(apologies, you may have received an email for chapter 51, but I accidentally mislabeled it at first then edited it, so that was just this chapter)

Geirna yawned as she looked over the horizon. The black of night was just barely giving way to the purple of the rising sun and beginning to dim and cast away the stars. Behind her, she heard Roshka snoring loudly.

She frowned at the empty bottle of booze, regretting letting him drink more of it than her. Such a...

Hell Hound Evolution 49

This wasn’t my first time advancing my development stage, nor evolving to a new path. But this was different.

A glow consumed my body as a rush of warmth spread through me. I could see the aura I was radiating, lighting the dark tunnel around me, and as I looked down at my paws, I realized I was changing far more drastically than last time. My claws, while growing larger and sharper right before my eyes, also had a cascade of colors dancing around the hard, bony stuff that made up my ...

Hell Hound Evolution 48

It’s not looking at me.

It’s not looking at me, right?

I mean, it’s really dark in here, and I have Camouflage. It’s just standing there… so…

Still, even with my Night Vision, the creature’s black, leathery hide blended itself into the darkness of the cave. Its mouth was half open with its heavy breaths, letting its teeth and eyes stand out, turning it into a monstrous face hovering in the darkness.

I activated {Vail of Shadows} just to improve my Camoufl...

Hell Hound Evolution 47

I sat on my haunches beside the stream, staring into the water. It seemed rather deep; I’d be well over my head by going in, but I think a human would only be up to their chest at the deepest parts.

Occasionally, I saw the shadow of a fish swim by, but I was not sure about how to go about snatching one. If anything in this cavern had water powers that I could consume, it would be a fish.

I lifted my head and looked around for one of those Lightning Toads. Stealing their prey mig...

Hell Hound Evolution 46

Prey Eliminated! Level 7 Lightning Toad

Experience gained!

Prey Eliminated! Level 6 Lightning Toad

Experience gained!

Prey Eliminated! Level 8 Lightning Toad

Experience gained!

I was able to kill these Lightning Toads in quick succession. Veil of Shadows, combined with my Night Hunter and Predator’s Focus did all the work, allowing me to sne...

Hell Hound Evolution 45

The Bloody Peaks were restless.

Jessica first noticed when her combat training was abruptly halted. A warrior had shown up and whispered something to him, and then he suddenly called off the class.

She was grateful for that, as combat training tended to be one humiliation after another for her. Before she took over Elva’s body, Elva wasn’t exactly bullied, but she was strongly disliked. Jessica had incurred the fallout of how the other younger warriors-in-training hated her, b...

Hell Hound Evolution 44

I brought Lily back to the skylight cavern, where I figured she’d be safer as I took time to explore the tunnels and figure out how many red masks may be down here searching for us.

The sky above was darkening, and I was less worried about red masks flying into this cavern at night. If they were going to find it, it would certainly be during the day.

Lily seemed to understand and accept I’d go off without her at night, so once she was settled in the cave, she watched me go wit...

Hell Hound Evolution 43

When me and Lily were done eating our latest and greatest kill yet, my tummy felt quite full. If I tried to eat any more, I was sure I’d get sick or throw up. I guess I couldn’t just take eating magic monsters for granted as an unlimited fix, but it certainly went a long way.

The Healing Shrooms made keeping my health up a non-issue as well, but there was one more of my vials I didn’t have an answer for.

That last fight took a LOT of effort, and my stamina was quite low as a...

Hell Hound Evolution 42

This was too exciting.

Veil of Shadows would work amazingly in the dark tunnels and caverns of this cave system. Combined with Pulse Sense, I could eliminate foes or at least be heavily favored with the element of surprise. The only problem until now is that my skills were so limited, I couldn’t risk throwing everything I had at one opponent… But that’s changed now.

First things first, I needed to get to stage 4, and I needed more levels and achievements.

I nodded to L...

Hell Hound Evolution 41

This certainly was a promising find. Already, I got a nice boost to my Attunement, and perhaps with just a level up and another achievement, I’ll have everything I need to unlock that stage 4 Path.

I led the way—two Hell Hound sisters stalking through this magical cavern in search of our next hunt. There were many heartbeats to choose from, and as we approached the stream in the middle, I decided to hunker down and watch.

There was another of those frogs sitting on a rock by t...

Hell Hound Evolution 40

I had a rather restless, guilt-ridden night. But the following morning, I felt surprisingly refreshed. I awoke with a yawn and was met with a lick to the face from Lily.

The scene of the mother mouse protecting her young still lingered in my mind, but it already felt less real. The doubts it stirred in me must have still been there, but as I looked at my sister and thought of the danger we were still in, I knew I couldn't let it slow me down.

I stretched as I stood, then padded ou...

Hell Hound Evolution 39

An apex predator, huh? Though, I still needed to make it to stage 5 development and unlock an achievement by the same name. Not only that, but the attributes required were a bit steep, so I’d either need to rack up some achievements or some levels in the meantime.

I held my kill down with my paws and began eating. Its flesh was muscled, wiry, and hard to chew. As I sat up, working through my mouthful of the hard-to-chew stuff, I looked down at the Shadowmartin. It was small but fierce...

Hell Hound Evolution 38

 Leaving Lily behind in the cave, I did a quick check of my vitals. 

Vitals

Health: 202 / 225

Mana: 53 / 220

Stamina: 180 / 220

52 mana wasn't too bad, but using Veil of Shadows was the main thing I would have to think carefully about. I really wanted to use it for a kill and hopefully level it up. I would be weaker during the day since I only get the buffs from Night Hunt...

Hell Hound Evolution 37

Right before my eyes, Lily grew slightly bigger. It was subtle enough that if I hadn't watched her do it, I may not have even noticed at first. But no, she wasn't just bigger; she was thicker. Not only that, but also the purple of her eyes became slightly more vivid.

She should be stage 3 now, as was I, and if it were only her size that changed, I would think that's all that happened. But she likely ascended to a new Path as well. If that were the case, she should have learned at least ...

Hell Hound Evolution 36

This underground cave system was truly a maze. Though, I was thankful for this, as we would have had a hard time losing our pursuers otherwise.

After my mana recharged enough, I decided to check for them and used {Pulse Sense}.

Humans were fairly easy to pick out, as I couldn’t imagine many other creatures standing on two legs and therefore having those odd vertical threads of pulse extending from the main heartbeat.

Luckily, I did not see anything like that. However, ther...

Hell Hound Evolution 35

Jessica had never realized just how easy her life on earth was. She used to hate living in a trailer in the middle of nowhere, and despite having a fairly calm home life, she didn’t think very highly of it.

She used to have very little in the way of responsibilities—go to school, do homework, help keep the house clean, and occasionally help cook.

Now all of that was replaced with…

Well…

She tracked the movements of her opponent from behind her mask, pivoting he...

Hell Hound Evolution 34

As we continued towards the glow at the end of the current passageway, the glow just kept getting brighter. Likewise, the scent of water became more present, and once the downward path evened out and opened to a spacious cavern, it was obvious why.

There was a huge lake down here, and the rocky walls were covered in those glowing mushrooms I’d seen in the forest. This would actually be a great place to use as a home base to come back to every night, I thought. I briefly wondered why M...

Hell Hound Evolution 33

Lily and I charged in from opposite sides of the red mask. I hoped Lily understood the danger those weapons possessed; especially at her low level, one wrong move could be fatal. But she had a trickster Path—she was born into this world with a System, and that is what she’d chosen.

I don’t think other monsters interacted with the System the same way I did, but leveling up and selecting Paths were a natural part of this world.

Just like animals from Earth, nobody taught a bea...

Hell Hound Evolution 32

The red masks descended towards our last kill, disappearing behind the ridge.

I knew hiding behind this rock would do us no good once they got serious about searching for us. Finding a thick patch of grass wouldn’t do the trick either. Really, our best bet would be to escape into the woods, but we were quite a long way up. Maybe we could find a branch to jump to, then slide down like I had done before, but we wouldn’t have time to move so slowly, and the risk of falling would be a d...

Hell Hound Evolution 31

As soon as we got back into the den, we both shook ourselves dry as best we could, spraying the walls with an impressive amount of water. When that was done, Lily was still shivering, so I lay down beside her and she rested her muzzle across my back.

From this position, I could tell I’d grown noticeably bigger since the last time I saw her—likely thanks to my evolution and current stage of development. I wondered how far she was from her next evolution. Experience-wise, she was prob...

Hell Hound Evolution 30

I survived the forest at far too low of a level, when I should have been nothing but prey myself. All the while, I had battled with the idea that maybe things would be okay. Part of me already knew what I would find up here, but I had been denying it to keep myself moving forward.

Now the truth was in front of me.

I force my head up, eyes misting with tears. A strong wind blew, pulling more dust off the side of the mountain, wrapping around my father like a fluid cloak. Even in de...

Hell Hound Evolution 29

The forest continued to get darker, but I found my sight was only minimally hindered. Where last night I could not see more than shadows a few feet in front of me unless I was lucky enough to come across some glowing mushrooms, I could now see quite far. Though my sight was still not as clear as during the day, I supposed it would only get better as the skill leveled up.

I went ahead and used {Pulse Sense}. Instantly a wave of heartbeats revealed themselves to me. I considered the small...

Hell Hound Evolution 28

I trotted along beside the frog man as he led me back through the woods. I held the bone in my mouth and occasionally looked up at him to get used to his strange features.

His chin was very wide, and he didn’t really have a neck. His limbs were long, while his body was rounder than a human's. He certainly was strange, but I felt like I could trust him.

I felt quite proud of the bone as I carried it in my mouth, even if it did not come from one of my own hunts. It was a very good...

Hell Hound Evolution 27

I didn’t want to trust the frog man.

Everything about him set my fur on edge—the calm way he smoked that pipe, the fact that Pulse Sense didn’t pick him up at all, and the way he seemed to know things when he set those milky eyes on me.

I prowled forward slowly until I decided on a safe patch of ground a few lengths away. I lay down there, low to the earth, but kept my ears sharp and my gaze fixed on him. He hadn’t moved an inch since offering me the bone, like he knew I�...